The exemplary embodiments of the present invention generally relate to cooking appliances. More particularly, the exemplary embodiments relate to collectors for cooking byproducts.
Generally stove tops equipped with a griddle include a byproduct (e.g. grease, oil, etc.) collection area located along one or more sides of the griddle. These byproduct collection areas generally include, for example a sump, which is generally not removable. Where the sump is built into the cooking appliance, a tube may connect the sump with a larger collection area such as a drawer or other container located, for example, remotely from the stove top (e.g. beneath the stove top). Where the byproduct collection area includes a sump, such as that noted above, that is not removable, it is difficult to remove the byproducts from the collection area. Cleaning the tube that connects the sump to a remote container is also difficult to clean as the tube generally runs along a path inside the stove that is inaccessible to a user.
Some conventional stove top griddles may be shaped to direct the byproducts into a removable trough that is located in, for example the sump area of the cooking appliance. However, not all of the byproducts flow into the trough and a significant portion of the byproducts end up flowing around the sides of the trough into the sump. The byproducts that flow into the sump are difficult to remove as noted above and also generally flow along the outside of the trough making the surface of the trough slippery to the touch, which may make removal of the trough from the sump difficult. In addition, the byproducts located on the outer surface of the trough provide additional surfaces that must be cleaned by the user.